


Bloody and Raw, but I Swear it is Sweet

by 2Bluewhales



Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Romance, Sassy Bucky Barnes, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:55:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28274928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2Bluewhales/pseuds/2Bluewhales
Summary: “Fuck.” Steve’s voice snapped him back to the present, looking up to find Steve with deep creases between his brows.“I’m guessing that was the cube thingy,” Bucky grunted, trying to stand but feeling oddly weighed down.“Bucky,” Steve said softly. Reaching down for him, Bucky grabbed on the hands he was offered, Steve taking most of his weight as he got back to his feet. Bucky immediately felt unbalanced the moment Steve let go of his hands, seeing a shadow in the corner of his eye.“Holy shit!” He exclaimed. His head whipped around, breath catching his throat at the sight.Wings. Large, black wings extended from behind him.__________Or, Bucky's just trying his best and he's gonna kill Loki when he gets his hands on him.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was inspired by Alula [Vertical and Forward Force] by micketysplit!

Bucky is zoning out while Tony drones on about security inside the building Fury had instructed the team Loki was spotted in. He really doesn’t care, he’s been trained as an  _ assassin _ for god’s sake, he’s not a rookie to covert missions or stealth. Bucky catches Natasha’s eye and gives her a look like he’s just smelled something bad when Tony turns his back and she looks away to try and hide the smile on her face, but he doesn’t miss the way one side of her mouth turns up.

An elbow to the ribs brings Bucky out of his thoughts, directing an accusatory glare at Steve who is now by his side. “What are you so bored for, Tony going over security protocols again?” 

Bucky’s face must answer the question because Steve snickers, and Bucky’s unable to stop the smile that pulls at his face at Steve’s amusement over something he did. Their friendship has come a long way considering Bucky was brainwashed for over seventy years and tried to kill Steve before. Thanks to T’Challa’s kindness and Shuri’s genius, Bucky was now free of his triggers and building relationships like a normal person. Sam was a godsend, helping him to process his emotions and offer advice on how to adapt to the modern world when he wasn't too busy at the VA. He had practice in catching old guys up to speed, he'd been there for Steve too when he was settling into his new life. Steve had been extremely patient with him, giving Bucky all the space necessary to figure himself out and make some kind of peace with his past actions, if there was a way to ever truly forgive oneself for actions like that. Bucky was learning to live with it.

Steve had been helpful in offering to share his floor in the tower with him and left sticky notes all over the house whenever he got the chance, scribbles of past memories of their childhood and the war constantly scattered around the house, sometimes accompanied by black and white photos of Steve and someone who wore his face but he didn’t recognize. Even though they’d been a great deal comfortable with each other before Bucky died, they’d hardly touched each other during Bucky’s recovery, something that used to pain him whenever he saw Steve’s heavyhearted looks when he had to let his hands fall or reel back the instinct to pull Bucky to his side or push him around playfully.

They were doing a lot better now, all things considered. Their comfortable friendship had been restored and Steve had slowly gotten used to being allowed to rest his hands-on Bucky’s ankle or squeeze Bucky’s shoulder, now barely thinking about it before pulling Bucky into warm hugs or shoving Bucky out of his spot on the couch.

He suddenly realized that the room had gone silent, and Bucky turned to see everyone’s attention on him and Steve. Steve flushed from being caught not paying attention.

Tony raised an eyebrow, unamused. “Something you boys want to share with the class?”

Bucky could tell Steve was about to do something humiliating like puff out his chest and try to defend them, the way he always did when someone tried to berate Bucky in front of him. Bucky decided to quickly intervene before that could happen and end up embarrassing the both of them. “Some of us don’t need the helpful tips and tricks to avoid being spotted, Tin Man.” He ignored the overly smug smile he saw Steve giving Tony from the corner of his eye. He rolled his eyes continuing, “You’ve got two trained assassins on your team and one super-soldier made national symbol, we all know these cautions are for  _ you _ normies.”

Natasha shook her head at him, but she was smiling. His friendship with her came easy, even easier than his and Steve’s had been during his recovery. It probably (definitely) had something to do with the fact they were both products of the nefarious organizations that made them into perfect weapons for said nefarious organization's agendas and they understood each other in ways that he and Steve never would. And Bucky was thankful that Steve couldn't understand him in that way, it killed him to imagine Steve going through things the way he did. 

Tony looked at him unimpressed, throwing his head back in frustration. “Fine. Whatever. Just don’t die, everyone got that?”

Bucky gave him a solute, giggling when Steve muttered, “Duh,” from beside him.

The mission was simple enough. Fury had informed them that they needed to bring Loki to S.H.I.E.L.D. because he was trying to retrieve some kind of cosmic cube that could do world-ending damage, blah blah blah, apparently this was something Loki had done before. Steve, Natasha, and Clint were going to handle the HYDRA agents inside the building while Tony did whatever he usually did in the command center of the building, which left Bucky hiding on the roof of the building awkwardly with Thor. Bucky had only seen him one other time in passing, a confrontation that also seemed to have been about Loki, but he seemed to be a good enough guy.

Steve seemed to really like him. Bucky got a kick out of watching Clint’s videos of them arm wrestling, a super soldier versus a god. Clint sent him all the videos of their matches because he never liked watching them to completion with Bucky, something about neither of their arms budging for almost a full twenty minutes being boring but Bucky loved seeing the childish grin on Steve’s face from playing around with an equal. It was a sight that was something of a rarity in their profession.

“So,” Bucky started, turning his attention to the blond. “That’s your brother in there?”

Thor didn’t seem troubled by the relation. “Family is hard. He’s the God of Mischief but he’s still my brother, I’ll save him whenever he needs me.”

Bucky nodded in understanding. Bucky had made his own mistakes, plenty of things that should be unforgivable, but Steve was always there to try and clear his name and aid him when he needed it. Loki was most likely like Bucky in the way they were made to do bad things under the influence of bad people. Bucky jumped in his skin at the loud voices suddenly filling the previous silence through his earpiece. 

“Dammit! Get Loki, he left me unarmed.” Steve’s voice grunted pained orders from the coms as a loud crash sounded around him.

“Sorry cap, we’re a little-” Clint’s voice broke off, the sound of an explosion slicing through the coms. “occupied over here.”

“Rogers, can you handle this alone?” Natasha sounded out of breath, surprising Bucky.

Or maybe Loki was about to get his ass kicked. Bucky was told to stay in hiding with Thor so they could serve as a kind of wild card in case things headed south, but Bucky wasn’t about to let some skinny little twink beat up on Steve while he had no backup.

He ran to the edge of the building, stepping off the ledge and down to the front of the building where Steve had run out chasing a flash of green, ignoring Thor calling after him to stay put. His legs strained from the impact as he landed. Ignoring the temporary discomfort, he ran after Steve.

“Barnes! What the hell do you think you’re doing? Remain posted.” Tony barked loudly in his ear. Steve’s neck turned to see where he was, just as quickly whipping back around to run faster towards his target. Bucky tore the coms from his ear, tossing it behind him.

Loki was a few feet ahead of Steve when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around to face him. Bucky knew from experience that nothing good came from that kind of surrender, he’d done that move a couple of times during his employment with HYDRA. Pushing himself harder to reach him before Steve did, Bucky took off into a sprint. His lungs were burning in his chest from the exertion, ignoring it to will his legs to move faster and faster until he ripped past Steve and his shoes dug into the dirt to stop in front of Steve as a barrier between him and Loki.

“What’s this?” Loki asked, eyes flicking back and forth between Steve and Bucky. “Oh, I see.” His smile took on a kind of sinister look, lips curling.

Bucky didn’t know what Loki was seeing, only knew that they couldn’t let him escape without getting brought in for questioning and containment. And as revenge for leaving Steve unarmed and fighting him anyway...it was a cheap shot. He leaped in Loki’s direction, crashing into Loki’s body and scrambling to find some footing, surprised when he was met with no resistance. They crashed into the dirt, Loki flipping their bodies last minute, so he was the one on top, and crushing Bucky, knocking the breath out of him.

Everything next happened quickly. Loki seemed to be speaking in tongue, rushed letters combining and thrown together into sentences that made no sense to him. It was no language that Bucky had ever heard but there was light surrounding them. Actually, the light was only surrounding Bucky. He registered a sudden flare of pain in his back, the breath getting knocked out of him before he noticed the look of horror on Steve’s face.

Loki was off him in an instant, suddenly much farther away from Bucky, a satisfied smile on his face, pleased as punch with whatever he’d done.

“What did you do to him?” Steve demanded. The look on his face was nothing but unrestrained fury. His eyes flicked down to Bucky on the ground, sympathy lacing his features mixed with something like wonder.

“Can’t say those will make for a very good sniper.” Loki joked. He tapped his index finger to his chin in contemplation before pointing it directly at Steve. “Here’s something for you too.”

He spoke more jumbled nonsense at Steve before something crashed in front of them, shaking the ground underneath them, dust kicking into Bucky’s face from his spot on the ground. “Loki, that’s enough.” Thor stood tall in front of Loki, cape flapping in the wind, seemingly in tune with the anger rolling off of him.

“Right you are, brother.” Loki brought a bright blue cube from behind him to his chest.

“DON’T-” Thor’s booming voice was cut off by a fog surrounding Loki, a cloud of black and blue swirls that zapped Loki away from them, leaving them all staring blankly at nothing.

“Fuck.” Steve’s voice snapped him back to the present, looking up to find Steve with deep creases between his brows.

“I’m guessing that was the cube thingy,” Bucky grunted, trying to stand but feeling oddly weighed down.

“Bucky,” Steve said softly. Reaching down for him, Bucky grabbed on the hands he was offered, Steve taking most of his weight as he got back to his feet. Bucky immediately felt unbalanced the moment Steve let go of his hands, seeing a shadow in the corner of his eye.

“Holy shit!” He exclaimed. His head whipped around, breath catching his throat at the sight.

Wings. Large, black wings extended from behind him.

He could only stare. Steve was approaching him like one would approach a feral animal, cautious and nonthreatening. Bucky backed away swallowing, he didn’t know if the wings were dangerous or not and he wasn’t about to risk Steve’s safety. Any magic done by Loki couldn’t be seen as a gift, that much he was sure of. Steve’s face turned into something like hurt and Bucky was eager to ease his discomfort but got interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

Thor looked apologetic. “I’m sorry about my brother, Barnes. I can promise you he’ll pay for his crimes back in Asgard.”

Something like a growl sounded from Steve’s throat. “Where did he go? He needs to fix this.”

“He could be anywhere, in a different dimension, even.” Thor’s explanation did nothing to placate Steve. “I’ll personally be hunting him down, don’t worry Steven.”

Thor finally looked at Bucky, eyes lingering on the large wings drooping behind Bucky before landing on his face. “I’m sorry again, friend. This will be corrected soon.”

With a lift of his hammer, Thor was gone leaving Bucky and Steve to stare after him in complete silence. Silence never lasted long with the Avengers, and Tony’s voice was loud from behind them.

“What the hell?” He exclaimed. “Are those  _ wings _ ?”

Bucky sighed, turning to face the rest of the team. He couldn’t see Tony’s face, but he was sure the asshole was laughing in there. Clint was full-on gawking, his jaw dropped dramatically with wide eyes, staring back and forth from Bucky to the wings. “That is  _ sick _ , dude.” Natasha dug her elbow into his side.

Her mouth was a thin line as she assessed the situation, she didn’t look any happier than Steve had been at Bucky’s new addition. “What the hell happened out here, Rogers?”

“Loki,” Bucky answered for him. “Seems pretty permanent for now, Thor’s on it.” 

Never one to shy away from the opportunity to invade someone’s personal space, Tony landed too close to Bucky for his liking. The metal retracted away from his face, revealing the look Tony always got on his face when faced with something new and exciting to solve.

“Can I,” He didn’t bother waiting for an answer before his fingers reached up to touch. His hand was stopped in midair, Steve’s fingers wrapping around Tony’s wrist before he could go any farther.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Tony huffed. “I think, I’m checking to see if those things are fully responsive and functioning.” He took his arm back, annoyed. “I almost forgot the only one allowed to touch Barnes was you, Rogers.”

Pink crept down Steve’s neck and he sputtered in protest, looking to Bucky for support, surprised to see that Natasha was already poking at the wings. The feathers twitched at her intrusion, flinging themselves away from her touch, and flattening themselves against Bucky’s back. Bucky was creeped out by the fact he could feel when she touched the feathers as if someone had touched him directly.

“Well, they’re definitely responsive.” Her face was blank. “You’ll go to see Dr. Cho when we get back.” It wasn’t a suggestion, so Bucky nodded.

They all looked around at each other lost on where to go from there. Without Loki to change him back, there was little anyone could do for him, and Loki had made his intention clear, these were a punishment. The wings were a way for him to make Bucky less valuable to the team, with wings that big he couldn’t hide out or fight, he was already weighed down significantly by their mass. The spell of silence was broken when Clint spoke up.

“So, where’s the cube?”

Steve cursed and Tony groaned. “Fury’s going to kill us.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky gets his wings checked out.

The ride back to the tower was draining. Tony had been chosen unanimously to inform Fury about the failure of the mission and Fury was talking so loud that his voice could be heard all the way in the back of the Quinjet where Bucky sat next to Steve. He was  _ pissed _ . Natasha had her head tipped back with her eyes closed, fingers brushing softly through Clint’s hair where his head laid in her lap, and Bucky smiled at the sight, wincing at the sudden throb in his temple. The pain in his back where the wings were attached had faded to dull pain, but his head was pounding from the aftermath.

He looked down, scowling at the dirt that covered the wings from dragging across the floor whenever he walked, leaving a layer of gray on the previously glossy black wings. He touched the corner of a feather with the tip of his pinky, feeling the soft tufts. He gave a disgusted glare when his finger came away with dust. How was he even supposed to wash them?

Feeling the intensity of someone’s stare, he looked up to notice Steve staring at the wings, anger still bubbling beneath the surface of his exterior.

Bucky tried to ease the tension on Steve’s face. “Third time’s a charm huh? At this point, I’ve had so many body modifications I might as well let Tony try something out next. He said something about upgrading my arm.”

Steve stared back unimpressed. “That’s  _ not _ funny, Buck.”

“The future has been so fucking weird, I’m not even surprised anymore. Wings today, webbed feet tomorrow.” Bucky rolled his eyes, despite being secretly pleased that Steve was still angry about Bucky’s experimentation for his sake.

Steve’s hand landed on top of his, fingers squeezing. “We’ll find Loki soon, and you’ll be back on missions before you know it.”

Bucky paused. “What do you mean, back on missions?”

“Bucky. You can’t expect us to bring you with us on missions when you’ve got wings.”

He seethed with anger feeling betrayed, hand ripping away from under Steve’s. “That’s exactly what I expect. Nothing’s changed here, I’m still a damn good sniper.”

Steve’s eyes were tired around the edges. “Bucky, I saw the way they weighed you down back there. You can come back when Fury clears you for duty, though I doubt that’ll be any time soon, knowing Nick.”

Crossing his arms across his chest, Bucky glowered. “Fury doesn’t direct this team, Steve, you do.”

“Buck-”

“You’re putting me on time out, then? I can be cleared for duty the same day Shuri says it’s a  _ possibility _ I won’t be triggered and go back to awaiting orders from a handler, but the minute I get wings I’m a liability?” It was a low blow and Bucky knew it. Bucky had actually been the one to try to convince  _ Steve _ that he was ready to be back in the field, and it was not easy. Steve wanted to be completely sure that Bucky wouldn’t be a liability for the team and that he wouldn’t get himself hurt, but Bucky kind of got everyone to gang up on him to let him start joining them. Natasha could take credit for most of that, coming from a similar background she made her case multiple times to try and get Steve to understand it would be fine. Once he started getting pressure from Fury that they needed another set of hands for missions, Steve gave in. 

“This is different, and you know it.” Steve snapped. Bucky rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t see how. I was much more dangerous as the Winter Soldier.” 

Steve got a look on his face that Bucky was more than familiar with, a face that reminded him of their childhood. A crease in his eyebrows, set in a deep scowl and a lip curled back in warning. Bucky was ready to match his anger to Steve’s, but before he could react, Steve’s expression shifted, frown disappearing and eyebrows lifting. He was watching the space between them and Bucky’s anger all but vanished when he saw what he was looking at.

He hadn’t noticed or felt his wings move, but the wing closest to Steve had shifted its position. The feathers at the tip of his wings were sweeping across the hand Steve had held Bucky with. They moved soft and slow with affection, they seemed to be trying to soothe Steve as if they had sensed his anger. Steve’s eyes were following the movement, face unreadable.

He lifted a cautious hand to where the feathers had curled around his fingers, pausing to swallow and looking to Bucky for permission. Bucky was still perplexed by the odd behavior, so different from the way they had reacted to Natasha but found himself nodding anyway. 

Steve slowly brought a finger down, lightly pressing against the feathers. The reaction was instantaneous. The feathers fluttered against Steve’s touch but didn’t retreat or try to shield themselves from him the way they did when Natasha had touched. Sensing no danger or discomfort coming from them, Steve ran his finger across the feathers with the lightest touch, letting his fingers move through the spaces between individual feathers. Bucky didn’t have time to be embarrassed about the filthy state of his wings or the way Steve’s fingers would no doubt be covered in the dusty residue, suddenly frozen in his seat and trying to hold back a shiver.

Steve’s movements had felt like Steve was tracing a finger carefully down his spine. Steve looked at him, confused by the sudden change in demeanor while Bucky’s face burned.

Tony’s voice called back to them from the front, “Getting ready to land now, guys.”

The wings sprung away from Steve’s touch as Bucky stood to prepare for landing, grateful to Tony for the distraction, not that he’d ever say it to his face. Bucky could feel Steve’s eyes on him as he moved to gather his weapons off the floor. When he stood back up with his stuff, he noticed Natasha eyeing them suspiciously. He wondered how much of that interaction she’d seen and felt himself flush beneath his collar. She was too observant for her own good, especially in matters that had to do with him and Steve. She had tried to get Bucky to fess up to his feelings a number of times, and each time he insisted that he didn’t know what she was talking about. And each time she gave him an unimpressed look. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed about how he felt about Steve, he just didn’t know what good admitting it would do. Their friendship was healing nicely and they had each other’s backs the way they always had up until the war separated them and there was no reason for him to ruin that, he loved how they were now. And if Bucky spent a little too much time fantasizing about kissing Steve, well, that was his problem. 

Natasha waved off Clint, signaling for him to go ahead without her, and stood at the Jet doors, waiting for him. “Barnes, medical.”

“I’ll take him,” Steve said, coming to stand behind him.

Bucky didn’t look back at him, instead focused on the strange way his wings felt being so close in proximity to Steve as if they were trying to break free from Bucky’s body to get to Steve. Natasha looked between them again before shrugging and heading out to catch up to Clint.

Bucky walked quickly to medical, ignoring the way his wings dragged behind him and brushed against the wall. Steve easily matched his stride without trying, overtaking Bucky, and walking into the lab first.

“Hey, Stev-oh!” The doctor inside looked past Steve’s shoulder at Bucky, her mouth dropping open in surprise at the sight of Bucky’s black wings. Bucky sighed as they stepped into her lab.

Steve explained the situation to her as Bucky walked to the examination table waiting to be seen. He stared at Steve, taking in the way he used his hands to articulate the circumstances of the mission, occasionally looking back as if Bucky might disappear if he didn’t keep checking. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, knuckles white and Bucky heard him say “Loki”. Bucky was laying his wings out on the table when a thought occurred to him.

His head snapped up in Steve’s direction, and Steve paused his explanation, startled at Bucky’s sudden movement. “Loki said something directed at Steve too.”

“Okay, we’ll run tests on the both of you.” The doctor smiled kindly at them, moving to Bucky’s side.

The wings reacted the same to the doc as they had with Natasha, reserved, and avoidant. The more she pried at them, the further they pressed onto Bucky’s back, taking up a defensive position. He offered her an apologetic smile, wishing he knew how to work them in his favor. She eventually gave up on the wings, taking blood samples and swabs instead. Bucky noticed Steve’s gaze on the vials of blood she extracted from Bucky, looking sick. 

Bucky knew Steve was scared of needles, something that he’d grown to fear after being poked and prodded in a hospital so many times throughout their childhood from being sick more often than not. He couldn’t help but feel bad for him, he was a symbol of America and one of the strongest Avengers who had defeated a number of villains, but he still got nervous at the sight of a small piece of metal. It was frustratingly endearing. When she was done seeing to him, Bucky got up to stand by Steve, placing his hand on Steve’s knee and squeezing before stepping away to give her space.

She brought a syringe to Steve’s arm with an apologetic look. “Sorry about this, Steve.” Apparently, it was common knowledge that Steve had a phobia of needles. The thought made Bucky happy despite the fact it was about something that Steve feared, there were people in the tower that knew how to handle Steve carefully and who cared about his comfort.

There was a slight tremor in Steve’s body when she brought the needle to Steve’s arm that Bucky could tell he was trying to hide. Bucky remembered the way he used to sit side by side with Steve as kids, holding his hand whenever he got his blood drawn or got a new vaccine, an effort to offer him some kind of comfort. He still remembered the way he pretended his hand didn’t ache from Steve crushing it beneath his, never failing to be amazed at the force that could come from those tiny little fists. He always hated when Steve had doctor appointments, hated the way they scared Steve, Steve who wasn’t even scared of bullies, or war, or dying.

The doctor took a panicked step backward, away from them. Bucky stared at her confused, noting the way she was looking at Bucky with poorly masked fear in her eyes and a false hard stare.

“Buck?” Steve sounded awestruck, staring at something behind Bucky.

Bucky followed his gaze, jaw dropping at the way the previously shy wings had unfurled from his back, now spread out as wide as possible towards the ceiling, and pointed down at her as if they were ready to strike. They appeared threatening, looming high over Bucky’s head, but clearly meant to be protective, the way they hid Steve behind them, daring the doctor to make a move.

“I,” Bucky’s voice tapered off. He didn’t know what to say, he had no explanation for the way that his wings reacted. She was now staring at them curiously, her fear almost completely gone as though it were never there at all.

She took a hesitant step forward, intent gaze locked on the wings. Slowly, she raised a wary hand to Steve’s arm with the syringe back in her hand, a strong hold on it this time. The wings moved promptly, ruffling as an angered bird would. They raised even higher, reminding Bucky of a snake before it strikes and he was quick to shuffle backward and away from Steve and the doctor when the wings started to quickly flap in anger, sending large gusts of wind at them and striking downwards, knocking things down from trays. She stared at Bucky lost in thought for a few seconds. She seemed to come to a decision as she excused herself from Steve’s side and walked behind the counter towards the front of the lab, still staring at the two. The wings seemed to relax at her departing, flapping slower and slower until they were completely still, going back to rest comfortably at his side.

Steve hadn’t looked away from him, eyes trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Bucky still didn’t speak, all words lost in his throat at the bizarre way the wings reacted to everyone but Steve. He was positive he was still flushed from the first time the wings had moved to protect Steve. He felt like making an excuse for the wings, but he didn’t know how to explain that they seemed to have a mind of their own and that that mind seemed to favor Steve. Steve’s hand twitched at his side as though he wanted to reach for Bucky or the wings. “That’s… interesting,” The doctor’s voice broke the spell around them.

After being asked to wait outside like a child who couldn’t keep his hands to himself, so she could take Steve’s blood, Bucky tried to will the wings to move in the ways he wanted. Despite how hard Bucky tried sending signals to the wings to flap or even touch the floor, they stayed motionless at his side. Numerous failed attempts at getting a reaction from the wings left him frustrated and annoyed. He hated to admit it, but Steve might be right about Bucky getting benched until the foreseeable future. Without being able to control them, they might attack one of their friends on accident if they interpreted them as a threat. The last thing he wanted was another reason to appear unstable and unpredictable and get treated the same way as before. He was done with having people acting like he needed to be coddled and handled like something fragile. He understood that he had been through terrible things and had done terrible things, but he hadn’t slipped up since his first week with S.H.I.E.L.D. He was seriously going to wring Loki’s neck the minute he reappeared from wherever he went. 

The doctor came for him and confirmed that there was nothing unusual about Bucky’s labs, besides the new set of wings he was fine. Steve’s vitals were exactly the same as usual, and nothing about his blood samples suggested that Loki did something to affect him biologically, despite Bucky demanding she double-check three times. It still left the question about what Loki  _ had _ done to Steve when he’d directed his magic at him. 

Bucky left with Steve in tow, feeling more pissed off than he was when he’d gotten there. Lost in thought, he hadn’t realized Steve been talking until he noticed his expectant stare on him. “Sorry, what?”

Steve huffed. “Do you want help cleaning your wings? You’re sort of leaving a mess everywhere.” Bucky saw a small trail of dirt following them, small pieces of gravel and dirt that had stuck to the wings from the battle site. Bucky was more mortified at this level of evidence of the filthy state of his wings than he’d been with the dust that had come off on Steve’s fingers when he touched the feathers. Bucky didn’t reply but Steve kept walking towards the elevator as if he had, so Bucky followed.

Bucky struggled to get his wings through the elevator doors because they decided that exact moment was a good time to try and spread out. He turned his body sideways, shuffling inside awkwardly, wings reaching both sides of the elevator and encasing both him and Steve. “Jarvis, fifth floor please.”

“They’re kind of cute,” Steve said as the wing closest to him curled around him without touching.

Bucky sputtered. “They’re not cute!”

“They are. You guys are just trying to look out for us, aren’t you?” He cooed at the wings, delicately petting the feathers around his side like he was talking to a damn  _ dog _ . 

The left wing seemed to preen under Steve’s touch, sweeping against Steve’s face affectionately, leaving behind grey dust on his pink cheek. 

“Jesus Steve, you’re going to get filthy,” Bucky said in disgust to try and cover how humiliated he was by the whole situation. 

Steve ignored him, continuing to baby talk his wings, probably because he was a dick. Bucky sighed as they reached their floor, dreading the mess that cleaning his wings was bound to be.


End file.
